


Another Year Without You

by Anonymous



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Father's Day, Grieving, I'm Bad At Tagging, Loss of Parent(s), Minor InuKag, Overbearing Inuyasha
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-19
Updated: 2018-06-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:35:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25393972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Every year, Kagome makes it a point to visit her father at least once. She especially tries to make it on that special day. But what happens when she's stuck in the feudal era with a stubborn half-demon named Inuyasha?
Relationships: Higurashi Kagome/InuYasha
Kudos: 11
Collections: Anonymous





	Another Year Without You

Kagome laid awake next to the campfire, staring up at the stars. For some reason, she couldn’t bring herself to fall asleep, and it was driving her insane. If she wasn’t going to be able to get any sleep, she was going to be a pain in the morning, and she knew that was just going to cause problems. 

Her brow furrowed as she wrapped her arms around herself, burrowing deeper into her sleeping bag. Her tongue poked out as she licked her bottom lip before her canines bit down on it. She didn’t have any upcoming exams because she just got back from taking a big one. There weren’t any major homework assignments due. It wasn’t because of her “monthly curse,” as she liked to call it because it was a way for Inuyasha to understand the severity of it. Was there any important dates coming up?

Kagome brought a hand out of the comforts of the sleeping bag to reach up and rub her nose, her mind pulling up the most recent memory she had of looking at a calendar. She tried her best to memorize any important events coming up and the date she left on. It was easy enough to count the days from there. (However, she did have a small little calendar book in her bag with everything written down in case she forgot anything.)

Once her nose was satisfied with the rubbing, she brought her hand back into the sleeping bag. 

‘It isn’t mom’s birthday. Or Sōta and Gramps’. So what am I missing?’ Kagome thought to herself as she continued to stare up at the night sky. And that’s when it hit her.

Kagome bolted up in an upright position, Shippō rolling off of her.

“Sorry!” She said in a hushed whisper, carefully picking the small demon up and placing him back on her lap.

It was the anniversary of her father’s passing. But that couldn’t be, could it? Another year had already passed?

Reaching over for her yellow bag, Kagome pulled it closer to her. She unbuckled the flap and began rummaging inside, looking for the small little calendar book. She’d occasionally stop and look up, making sure she didn’t wake anyone. Especially a certain silver-haired hanyō. If she was right on the day, she didn’t want him to know. Family wasn’t something he understood, and she couldn’t bring herself to argue with him on it anymore.

“Aha!” She exclaimed a little too loud, a hand coming up to cover her mouth. Once her eyes scanned over the sleeping group, she opened the book up to the date only to see her neat handwriting confirming her original thought.

Well, this just wasn’t going to do. She had made it a tradition to visit her father’s grave every year. She liked to tell herself it was to keep his memory alive, but the truth of it was that she still missed him. Nine years after the accident and it still broke her heart that she’d never get to see him again. To hear him laugh or talk. She’d even take being scolded by him if it meant she got to see his face. Kagome closed the book and held it to her chest, tears forming in her eyes. His face, along with everything else, was something that had long been forgotten. However, it wasn’t by choice. She was very young when he passed, leaving her with little time to remember him in the first place.

Feeling a tear roll down her cheek, Kagome swiped it again before putting the book back in her bag. She was going to keep up her tradition and there was nothing Inuyasha could say or do to stop her. Everyone in the group would back her up if she wanted—

Her thoughts were interrupted by one lingering issue: while she knew a lot about her companions, they hardly knew about her family life, and she didn’t know if she could explain it all before she left.

She couldn’t linger on it any longer. There was a lot she was willing to give up to help in the search for the shards of the jewel, but this was not one of them. Kagome shook her head and pushed her book bag away once everything was closed and buckled. She carefully wiggled back down into her sleeping bag, her arms reaching out to grab Shippō and bring him under the cover.

Now that she figured out what was keeping her up, Kagome was able to fall asleep almost immediately. Or it was because of how exhausted she was both from the previous day’s activities and the inability to sleep.

❉⋮❉⋮❉⋮❉⋮❉⋮❉⋮❉⋮❉⋮❉⋮❉⋮❉⋮❉⋮❉⋮❉⋮❉⋮❉⋮❉⋮❉⋮❉⋮❉⋮❉⋮❉ ⋮ ❉⋮❉

Come morning, Kagome was one of the first people up—the first one being Inuyasha who was impatiently waiting for everyone else to get up so they could carry on with their search. Boy was he going to be mad with what she was about to say and do.

Kagome silently packed everything up, keeping the sleeping bag out as Shippō was still bundled up and asleep. She noticed the curious glances from the hanyō but brushed them off as she pulled out her brush and began running it through her dark locks. In her mind, she was running through a script of sorts on how she was going to tell Inuyasha that she was going home for the day. It was just a day, but she knew that he would throw a fit about it.

Finally, she let out a sigh and laid the brush down on her lap. Her brown eyes landed on Inuyasha, who was sitting up in a tree. He said it was so he could keep a better watch, but she felt it was because he didn’t want to get too close to everyone. He was still so adamant about being a “lone wolf.”

“Inuyasha. I’m going home today,” She stopped to gauge his reaction, which was an ear twitch and a raise of the eyebrow.

“You’re  _what?"_

“I’m going home. Just for today. There’s something important I _have_ to do.” Kagome bit her lip as she waited for him to explode, which he immediately did.

“Oh no you’re not. You just went home a couple of days ago,” He continued to talk as he hopped down from his perch and walked over to Kagome, his hands in his sleeves. “I don’t care about these stupid exam demons of yours. We’ve got jewel shards to find and every day we ain’t lookin’, Naraku finds more.”

At this point, the others were waking up due to the commotion. Kagome refused to back down from this. Once the hanyō was in front of her, she took a deep breath and met his stern, amber gaze with one of her own.

“I wasn’t  _ asking _ . I’m going. I’ll be back by sunset. And you’re just going to have to deal with it!” Unintentionally, her voice began to rise, causing the still waking up fox demon to move from the sleeping bag over to where Kirara and Sango were situated. Kagome looked away, but only to roll up the sleeping bag. 

“No, you ain’t. You’re staying here because you’re the one who can see the damned shards,” Inuyasha said, a hint of a growl in his voice.

She knew she was in trouble but didn’t care. She tucked the sleeping bag into the yellow book bag before closing everything up. Quickly standing, Kagome had slung the bag onto her shoulders and was now looking the hanyō in the eyes. “Sango, would it be all right if I borrowed Kirara for the day?” Her brown eyes didn’t leave Inuyasha’s face as she blatantly went against his wishes and asked their companion for a way out.

“Uh… Not at all.”

“What?! You’re just going to let her go!?” Inuyasha’s head snapped to the side as he looked towards Sango in time to see Kirara mew and scamper off towards Kagome.

“Thanks, Sango. I really owe you. C'mon, Kirara; let’s go!”

Both Kagome and Kirara took off running, the latter transforming into her larger and more powerful self, allowing the school girl to hop onto her back before they took off into the sky.

“Hey! Get back here! KAGOME—”

“SIT BOY!”

Kagome’s command was met with a loud CRASH and a pained groan. She’d find a way to make it up to him but not now.

❉⋮❉⋮❉⋮❉⋮❉⋮❉⋮❉⋮❉⋮❉⋮❉⋮❉⋮❉⋮❉⋮❉⋮❉⋮❉⋮❉⋮❉⋮❉⋮❉⋮❉⋮❉⋮❉⋮❉

Kagome and Kirara managed to make great time as it was only midday when Kagome finally stepped back into her own time. She didn’t even take time to stop in to say “hi” to her mom and Gramps as she was on a timer. Inuyasha was bound to come looking for her once he let his anger build enough. If she ran fast enough, she might be able to meet him back at the well before he crossed over. Little did she know he wasn’t too far behind her…

Kagome ran across the Higurashi property and down the stairs that led in the busyness that was residential Tokyo. She took a few seconds to look around, getting herself reacquainted with the area before taking off down the street. She had to make a small stop before heading off to the graveyard. It wasn’t ever anything extravagant. When she was younger, it was usually whatever she could find on her way to the graveyard. Fortunately, she still had a small amount of her allowance left over so she could buy a small little bouquet of flowers.

At the first flower stand she saw, she stopped to purchase said flowers. She made small talk with the seller, awkwardly responding to the questions about her “ailments.”

'Reminder to kick Gramps’ butt for continuing to say I’ve got old peoples’ illnesses.’ Kagome inwardly sighed as she was finally handed the small bouquet and payed the seller. Before the seller had time to count out the change, Kagome was gone.

'Gotta go, gotta go!’ She kept thinking to herself as she ran. She was grateful for all the walking and running she had to do in the feudal era because this was nothing for her now. She remembered how she used to have to walk most of the way because she was too out of shape to run it all.

After a few more blocks of running, Kagome took a turn down another street, running for a few more blocks before she arrived at the entrance of the graveyard. She stood at the entrance, breathing heavy as she tried to collect herself. She looked over the flowers to make sure that they were okay before slowly walking down the pathway. She lowered her head a little as she walked, having memorized the route to the family grave after nine years. She counted her steps as she went, her voice low as it was more to herself.

Turn after turn, Kagome eventually reached the family grave and raised her head enough to read her father’s name. Slowly she let the bag slip from her shoulders before she placed her next to her. And just as slowly, she sunk to her knees. She blamed it on the running, but knew it wasn’t that. It was something she did every time she arrived here.

She took a deep breath as she looked down at her lap, her eyes desperately trying to focus on the flowers, but they were finding it difficult as she was suddenly hit with a wave of emotions. Would he be proud of her for what she was doing? Would he be as lenient as her mother was with her coming and going? What about Sōta? How close would they have been?

Off in the distance, a certain red-clad hanyō watched as the girl placed the flowers in their respective spot. He noted that her hands were shaking as she did so. His ear twitched as he picked up bits and pieces of what she was saying, but what caught his attention was the mention of “dad.” Inuyasha watched for a few more seconds before heading back to the Higurashi residence. In all the time he had known Kagome, he had never thought to ask about her father although he had assumed the worst—just as it was in his case.

He’d let her have this day. It clearly meant a lot to her.


End file.
